Deliveryman Poses as Oil Trader, Tricks Woman Out of S$92,510 on Dating SiteDeliveryman Poses as Oil Trader, Tricks Woman Out of S$92,510 on Dating Site A 30-year-old Singaporean deliveryman, Muhammad Sharul Anoor, was sentenced to 19 months in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding a woman of S$92,510. On a dating site, Sharul created a fake profile and claimed to be an oil and bunker trader named “Melcolm Tan.” He contacted the 34-year-old victim and convinced her to invest in his purported shipping business with the promise of a guaranteed return. From August 2022 to March 2023, the victim made 17 transfers totaling S$92,510 to Sharul’s account. She used her personal savings and took out loans to cover the expenses. Sharul used the money for home renovations, his car loan, and credit card payments. To date, he has refunded only S$67 to the victim. Despite the victim discovering that the Paynow number associated with the transfers belonged to Sharul, he maintained the deception by claiming to be an employee of “Melcolm” named “Shan.” The victim believed this and continued to communicate with “Shan,” unaware that it was Sharul. Sharul defrauded the victim through a series of lies, including claiming that “Melcolm” needed money to close a deal, pay import duties, and avoid arrest. In court, 10 similar charges were considered during sentencing. Sharul’s lawyer pleaded for leniency, stating that he had cooperated with the authorities and expressed remorse for his actions. However, the judge emphasized the need for deterrence and sentenced Sharul to 19 months in prison.
SINGAPORE, July 13 — A deliveryman posed as an oil and bunker trader on a dating site and tricked a woman into transferring S$92,510 (RM322,076) to him.
Yesterday, Muhammad Sharul Anoor, a 30-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to 19 months in prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of fraud.
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Ten similar charges were also taken into consideration in sentencing.
The woman, now 34 years old, made a total of 17 transfers to Sharul in eight months, from August 2022 to March 2023.
She used S$50,000 of her personal savings and took out loans for the remaining amounts.
The court heard that Sharul had used the money for his home renovations, car loan and credit card repayments.
To date, he has refunded the victim S$67.
What happened
Sometime in 2022, Sharul created a fake profile with the name “Melcolm Tan” on a dating app and in August of that year he was matched with the woman.
They initially communicated via the Telegram app, and Sharul told her he was an oil and bunker trader.
On August 26 of that year, Sharul told the victim she could invest in his import shipping business and earn a guaranteed return of 3.5 percent starting in January 2023.
He also told her that he would bear any losses and that she would get her money back.
The woman made her first transfer of S$5,000 to him via Paynow that same day.
After she made the first transfer, she saw that the mobile phone number linked to Paynow belonged to Sharul.
She sent a WhatsApp message to the Paynow number, but Sharul managed to maintain the deception by saying he was “Shan”, an employee of someone named “Melcolm”.
He indicated that he would act as a mediator between the victim and Melcolm.
The woman believed this and continued to correspond with Shan.
Between August 2022 and March 2023, Sharul continued to defraud the woman six times, pretending to be Shan. He told her that Melcolm needed money for various reasons.
The highest amount he received from her was S$20,000 on October 11, 2022, when he said Melcolm needed the money to close a deal because his friends had scammed him of S$340,000.
The second highest amount was S$10,000, with him claiming Melcolm had to pay import duties to avoid arrest.
Other lies Sharul made up to deceive the victim were:
